GIVE 'EM MEL:

Then Again... (Dotty Lynch, Douglas Kiker, Steve Chaggaris, Beth Lester and Clothilde Ewing, 11/12/03 CBS News)

The race for Florida’s open senate seat, held since 1986 by Democrat Bob Graham, is already crowded, but the Tampa Tribune reports HUD Secretary Mel Martinez is considering jumping in. Martinez told reporters back in June that he wasn't interested, but Republican sources tell CBS News that he's reconsidering and may make an announcement soon.

And today in Florida, CBS News' Mark Knoller, who is accompanying President Bush on his Florida fund-raisign trip, reports that Mr. Bush spent several minutes lavishing praise on Martinez as an American success story.

If he decides to run, Martinez, who emigrated from Cuba at the age of 15, may be the GOP's best chance of capturing the seat. Because Martinez is Hispanic, Republicans believe he not only can win Cuban-American votes, but also cut into Democratic support from other Hispanic-Americans.

At this rate, the next convention, when the GOP trots out a rainbow coalition of speakers, they'll actually be Republican candidates and officials.

Posted by Orrin Judd at November 13, 2003 1:54 PM